Madras High Court Disposes Sun TV Interim Plea After CSK Undertakes Not To Use Its Film Songs For Promotion Without Licence

The Madras High Court on Monday (March 16) disposed of Sun TV's applications after Chennai Super Kings undertook not to use songs from Sun TV-owned films, including Coolie and Jailer, in promotional content without obtaining prior licence.

Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy closed the interim pleas after taking note of the affidavit filed by KS Viswanathan, Managing Director of CSK, undertaking not to use the songs without obtaining a license.

The court has asked Senior Advocate J Ravindran, appearing for Sun TV, to get instructions regarding continued prosecution of the case. The court has sought Sun's opinion on whether the main suits could also be disposed of, in terms of the undertaking filed.

“Pursuant to statement made on 13/02/26, 1st defendant had filed an affidavit dated 16/03/26 affirmed by KS Viswanathan, Managing Director. In para 7, it is stated as under…As is clear from the above extract, the 1st defendant has undertaken not to show, display any of the sound recording or musical work including songs set out in the plaint without obtaining a license thereof. In view of such undertakings, the original applications (OA 212 and 213 of 2026) are disposed of by recording such undertakings,” the court recorded.

Though Sun TV also argued that the team be restricted from using the copyrighted songs at the time of match (in between overs and during scoring of 4s and 6s), the team informed that such license would have to be obtained from the organisers, for which appropriate applications would be filed.

Sun TV had approached the court seeking to restrain CSK from using its songs from the movies “Jailer”, “Jailer 2” and “Coolie” for the team's promotional activities. Sun had also claimed damages to the tune of Rs 1 crore.

Sun had argued that on March 1, 2026, the team had unveiled its new jersey through a promotional video shared on CSK's official social media pages in Instagram, X, YouTube and Facebook. It has been submitted that the video had prominently used audio tracks and dialogues from Jailer, Jailer 2 and coolie and further incorporated copyrighted audio elements at multiple junctures.

It was argued that through the exploitation of copyrighted works, the team has tried to aid the sale of its match jersey which is priced at Rs 2399, along with other merchandise in South India and more predominantly in Chennai.

Sun argued that the team had infringed its copyright for commercial gain with a clear intention of leveraging popularity, goodwill and commercial appeal to garner enhanced viewership, publicity and brand value for the team and its sponsors.

When the matter was taken up on 13th March, Senior Advocate PS Raman, appearing for the team, submitted that the alleged infringing videos had been taken down. The counsel also informed that the team would not be using any copyrighted songs without obtaining a license. He also submitted that an affidavit would also be filed in this regard. Following this, the present affidavit was filed.